Egypt's Khaled El-Enany nominated as sole UNESCO chief candidate

Former Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz has been nominated as the sole candidate for the post of UNESCO director-general during the 222nd session of the organization's executive board held on Monday in Paris.

During the vote, El-Enany received 55 votes, while the other candidate, Firmin Edouard Matoko of the Republic of the Congo, received two. Having secured more than half of the valid votes, El-Enany won the election.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the nomination will be submitted for approval by the UNESCO General Conference, scheduled for November 6 this year in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Born in 1971, El-Enany is a professor of Egyptology at Helwan University of Egypt, where he has been a faculty member for over 30 years.

If confirmed, he would become the first director-general from the Arab world and the second African since UNESCO's founding 80 years ago.

(With input from Xinhua)